Wolfgang Puck

Following a so-so season on Top ChefAll Stars, Tiffany Derry was eliminated on the most recent episode of the show.

In a new interview with TV Guide, Tiffany talks getting booted, why she thought her dish was great, and touches on that whole Black Hammer curse. Excerpts are below –

Did you have any feeling that you were getting booted?Tiffany Derry: It was such a mixed thing. I didn’t know who it would be. I definitely knew the issue of cold and hot. When they straight-out asked me, “Was it supposed to be cold?” I was like, “No, not cold. Please don’t say it was cold.” At least say it was lukewarm. Sometimes there’s a little exaggeration between cold and warm, so you never really know, but I was like, “No!” And there are other issues [for Richard and Antonia]. When someone says something is raw or undercooked, then it’s like, [the elimination] could be based on a technical issue or a [temperature] issue. You never really know. … I didn’t know how to read the whole thing. I felt like my dish was good. I really enjoyed it and I think I said that. To go home on a dish that you like is better than going home on a dish that you know you could’ve done better on.

After the weather this week and the fire last week, do you think you guys should have the best equipment at your disposal in the finals?Tiffany: I don’t know. I think this made it much more interesting. We cook with great tools in our restaurants every day; that’s the norm. To put us outside of our comfort zone with different machines and all of that is kind of cool.

You and Antonia won the Quickfire and then you got eliminated. Do you believe in the Black Hammer curse?Tiffany: [Laughs] I know! But see, the Black Hammer is supposed to [strike] when you’re cooking with her, when you’re on the same team. So I don’t know what happened. [It took effect] on the next challenge. You know what’s weird about this challenge too? I was going to make the dish Antonia ended up making. We’re on the same wavelength sometimes. It’s kind of crazy. I was going to do a pan-seared fish and the conch ceviche on the top. My other idea was to wrap the fish in banana leaves and still do the conch ceviche. I found out Mike was doing banana leaves, so I’m like, “Freak!” I was freaking out! Then I heard Antonia describe her dish and I was like, “Oh my God! I’m doing the same dish everyone’s doing!” So [my soup] was the third option.

What are you up to now?Tiffany: I am building a restaurant in Dallas. It’s called Private Social. Traveling a little bit, doing a lot of cooking demonstrations.

In other Top Chef news, judge Tom Colicchio and wife Lori Silverbush welcomed baby boy Mateo Lev Colicchio on Tuesday at 12:11PM in New York City.

According to a rep for the couple, both mother and baby are doing well. Mateo is Tom’s third son, as he also has a 19-month old son, Luka Bodhi, with Lori and 17-year-old Dante from a previous relationship.

And finally, it’s one week before the finale and on tonight’s new episode, the three remaining chefs fashion a challenge for their fellow contestants in Season 8’s final Quickfire. Then, they dish up a “last supper” for celebrity chefs Masaharu Morimoto, Wolfgang Puck and Michelle Bernstein. It airs tonight on Bravo at 10/9c.